Jomo Kenyatta Airport

I've made it!!

Currently typing this in a cafe (more of a collection of tables where you can buy beef patties and coke) and waiting for auntie em's flight to arrive in just over an hour. So far everything has gone way better than planned. The business class seat got me first in line for a visa, and the visa lady was very nice. I didn't have correct change and expected to get ripped off, Laos-style, but she let me wait until she had enough to give me. My bag was there, and a man from the safari company was waiting for me, even though I'm pretty sure he wasn't supposed to be. Clean bathroom and lots of toilet paper. Huge points over SE Asia already. For $5 I got my cell phone working, and the girl that sold me it even set it up for me. I'm enjoying the hospitality here already! I believe to call me while I'm using my Kenya phone (most likely until July 4) dial +254 (0) 20 559433. That + thing doesn't really exist in Canada though, and I'm not sure what the equivalent is. While I'm in Kenya (on and off, we jump into Tanzania for a bit) I think I can call home for 3 shillings, which is peanuts. After over ten attempts I still haven't figured out how to dial. Will have to look it up when I get internet.

The airport reminds me of Sri Lanka's....very small, open-air as soon as you have picked up your bag, lots of hotel and phone companies have booths all around.

Once auntie em arrives we'll go to the Norfolk Hotel which is Nairobi's oldest and most famous hotel for the night and then head to Wilson airport for our flight to the Bateleur Camp in the Masai Mara National Reserve. It's a tented camp, so don't expect to have Internet there.

The Masai Mara is an extension of the Serengeti and home to elephant, hippo, buffalo, giraffe, lion, and cheetah, along with wildebeest, zebra, kongoni, and topi during the Great Migration. This is actually the end of the Migration, and I don't think it will be there yet. We are hoping to catch the end of it in a different camp later in the trip. There are also six types of primates and over 450 birds. I wonder what we will see!?!?

The camp itself sounds beautiful - I can't wait to get there! It's where Out of Africa's final scene was filmed and only has nine rooms. Stay tuned for pictures and further updates!!

My greeter gave me a really nice bag (looks like I didn't need to by my practical white purse after all) of things to read, which I have been diving into while waiting for a.e.

So far so good!


Additional update: a.e. made it too and after quite the traffic jam we are at our very beautiful hotel. Showering and trying to sleep....but we are so excited!!